


A resurrection, Flight and Eiji's Desire

by QSF



Series: Dreams, escape and afterwards [2]
Category: Kamen Rider OOO
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-23
Packaged: 2018-01-07 11:52:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QSF/pseuds/QSF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's nice to get your heart's desire, and harder to know what to do with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Resurrection

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Spoilers for the end of the show

"Hmh?"

One word.

Or more of a sound really.

Eiji was struck dumb all the same.

All angles and limbs, wreathed in the first light of dawn, crimson feathers raining down like dew.  For a moment it seemed like the ruins themselves held their breath as Ankh, hunched like the bird that he was, flexed his brilliant wings before they faded as he settled into his familiar shape. Eiji had seen him reconstitute himself like this once before. Had seen the shape hold true, then fail, his body collapsing in a pile of medals, leaving only the arm behind. He had still needed a host. But that had been then, and this was now, and Ankh tossed back his hair and gave him a scathing look.

 ”Took you long enough.” The hand flexed, the fingers curling as if stretching after a good night’s sleep.

 ”Ah, well…” Eiji smiled nervously, half bowing where he was kneeling. “Sorry about that.” He felt stiffer than Ankh looked as he got to his feet, still watching the Greed warily, looking for signs of something going wrong. The caustic smell of alchemical concoctions still lingered in the air.

 ”It’s alright. I’m used to you being an idiot.” A smile, sharp and fast enough to have been imagined. “And deaf.”

 ”Deaf?” Eiji was brushing his knees off, nervously looking anywhere but Ankh. “Oh, that really was you? I thought I felt you sometimes, but imagined that was only in my head. I must have looked pretty silly trying to talk to you.”

 ”You did. Lucky for me I wasn’t there all the time.” There was an awkward pause there as both of them tried to remember exactly what had been said. In the end, Eiji broke it with a relieved laugh.

 ”But it worked, right? Your Core Medal is whole again?”

 ”I suppose so.” Ankh shrugged his bony shoulders. Clothes had formed out of the same substance as he had, and he looked so very out of place amongst the ruins. “You wouldn’t let it fade.”

 ”I wouldn’t…” Eiji took a deep breath, looking away again. “I thought that you…”

 ”That I was that special?” A smug smile, pale fringe lining his face. “Of course I am. But a Greed is a Greed. Remember what we live on.”

 ”What you… ah, Cell Medals.” Eiji gestured helplessly around the empty room. “I’m sorry; all I had were used in the resurrection.”

 ”Idiot.” The slap on the back of his head made Eiji gasp and rub his scalp with a small frown.

 ”Was that really…” But Ankh interrupted him as if he hadn’t even noticed.

 ”Cell Medals are nothing but concentrated desire. Desire was what kept me here. What kept my medal from crumbling. You wouldn’t let me go.” A fleeting grimace was dispelled as quickly as it appeared. “You and her.”

 ”Hina…” Eiji could feel his smile threatening to burst out. So far it had felt too much like another dream, another would be nightmare. But this was real, wasn’t it? Ankh was really standing here, looking awkward and annoyed. No possession. No price to pay for his company. Well, nothing except…

 ”So, give me.” Ankh held out his hand expectantly, almost aggressively.

 ”I’m sorry…” Eiji felt flustered, this wasn’t how he had expected things to go. Honestly he hadn’t dared to expect anything, but it seemed unfair that time hadn’t made him more able to deal with Ankh’s fleeting whims. He always felt as if he was half a step behind. “Ice cream?”

 ”Idiot.” The annoyed huff hit right in Eiji’s gut. “Core Medals. Mine. You have some.”

 ”I do, don’t I?” Eiji fumbled in his shirt for the medal holder. Thanks to the visitor from the future, he had got some of the medals back. How did that even work? If he gave Ankh the medals now only for Ankh to give them back so many years later, who had got the medals in the first place? Time travel had always hurt his head, he didn’t envy Den-O. “Here.” He placed the few bird medals he had in Ankh’s hand, counting them up like coins. “I’m sorry there’s not more of them.”

 ”Hmh.” Ankh huffed softly as he absorbed the medals, each little clinking sound making him shiver a little. “It will have to do.”

 ”Do you…” Eiji didn’t know how to continue, he just held out the medal holder, wordlessly questioning Ankh. The hand that swiped the holder was as fast as a snake.

 ”I’ll keep those. I’m amazed you haven’t lost them yet.” There was a pause when he looked back at Eiji, frowning slightly as if he tried to read the other man’s fears. “Don’t be an idiot. I have no intention to absorb them. I have what I want already.”

 The flush that begun building was nothing Eiji wanted to acknowledge, so he just nodded vigorously. Too vigorously. “I understand. I just… I’m just not sure how this works now.”

 ”You mean will I have any reason to stick around now that I don’t need you to hunt Core Medals for my restoration?” The look was a challenge, and one that Eiji failed as he looked away.

 ”Yes, that bit…”

 ”You really are an idiot!”

 Ankh gripped his hand too hard, too fast to pull back. The grip of the Greed hand was always softer than Eiji had imagined, well, apart from the claws. Warm, like a leather coat that had been left out in the sun. It made his heart stop just a little bit.

 ”Ankh, I…” Words stuck in his throat when Ankh looked up, sharp features unreadable.

 ”Here.” A small shudder passed through the Greed, and when Ankh pulled back his hand, a Taka medallion rested on Eiji’s palm. He pulled a Tora and Batta medallion from the case and put them top of it. “Hold on to them.”

 ”Thank you.” Eiji nodded hard as he stepped back, pressing his closed hand against his beating heart. He got it. He wasn’t quite as clueless as Ankh sometimes claimed. Ankh would never walk out on one of his Core medallions. This was… was what? A sign of trust? “I didn’t mean to doubt…”

 ”You’re going to need them.” Ankh had stepped closer when Eiji stepped back, one brow arched in amusement. “Or aren’t you aware of your friends?”

 ”My friends?” Eiji was completely lost for a moment, Ankh was too close and for a moment he almost closed his eyes and leaned in.

 And then the shot rang out.


	2. Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler warning for the end of the show, and the book.

"Down!"

A shout.  
An instinctual reaction.  
Eiji had forgotten how to breathe.

Ankh was a wiry length beneath him, pressed against the stone floor, but all the thoughts that went through Eiji’s mind were of death and loss and the fact that this was all happening again, a rerun of a nightmare with the cast switch around. Then, another shot rang out, the echo rolling like thunder in the empty ruins and Ankh cursed and jabbed him in the ribs and this was reality once more.

 

"Off!" Ankh huffed the word with an annoyance that Eiji missed with the force of a desert sun.

"Be careful! Keep your head down," Eiji cautioned as they both quickly scampered closer to the wall, away from the line of fire that one of the ruined windows had given the shooter. He couldn’t see anything, the opening was facing the rising sun, one of the reasons why this room had been suitable in the first place.

"Do you think I’m stupid? I warned you about them in the first place." Defying Eiji’s warning, Ankh popped his head out for a quick look, only to yank it back as another shot tore stone shards from the wall he was hiding behind. Only then did he seem to realize that Eiji was just sitting there and aimed a scathing glare in his direction. "What are you waiting for? Transform?"

"About that…" Eiji quickly scanned the room. They could make a run for the stairs, but if they had set up a sniper overlooking the room, chances were the rest might be covering the staircase, and there they had no cover. "I’d rather not."

"What?" Ankh crawled over to him on hands and knees, and the disbelieving look on his face made Eiji smile a little.

"They are just humans, and…" The hesitation was there, but Eiji continued all the same. "After the war… after I stopped it…"

"Never mind." Ankh’s interruption was rude but as familiar as blisters. "You can be stupid later. More people are coming, let’s go."

"You’re right." Eiji pointed towards the other window, the one showing nothing but dark jungle covering a sheer drop down the side of the temple tower. "Let’s go."

There was no time to think, not really, just enough to sprint across the floor, and dive out the window just as the boots reached the top of the stairs. There were bullets, but by then he was already falling, grabbing for a branch before something else, no, someone else grabbed him instead. Grabbed him and held him tight, surrounded by a cloud of bright red feathers and for a moment Eiji remembers a dream of falling.

The dream is rudely broken as they land in the thick undergrowth, Ankh swearing as his wings fade and the disappearing glow leaves them nearly blind in the damp, green darkness. Daylight had not penetrated this deep down yet, the sun had just risen high enough to catch the top of the tower. Down here everything was wreathed in shadows still.

"Now what?" Ankh doesn’t protest when Eiji grabs his hand, he just gives the other man an odd look, that little tilt of his head that makes Eiji’s heart jump a little.

"The jungle," he says, pulling the awkward Greed along. "It should just be a couple of hours walk to the village, and they are probably busy keeping watch on the roads and the parking lot."

"Because in their minds nobody would be stupid enough to traipse through the jungle." Ankh clearly thinks the same, all angles and and annoyance as he follows, dragged by the hand into the unknown darkness.

"It’s just a jungle," Eiji tries to sound encouraging, but he supposes it comes out as stupid enthusiasm. At least judging from the look on Ankh’s face. "I’d rather make a little detour than…"

"Than?" Ankh pulls his hand back for balance, and Eiji lets it go only reluctantly. "You owe me an explanation. And about a year’s worth of ice cream."

"I suppose I do. We can talk on the way, let’s just get some distance from their guns first."

Ankh’s sullen silence was the only agreement that he got.

…

The jungle was loud around them. Waking birds. Humming insects. Odd cracks and snaps from animals shying away before they were noticed. Eiji walked first, pausing now and then to check his internal compass to make sure they were on the right track. It was harder to go by the sun down here under the forest canopy, the only times he could take a reading was when they reached the odd open space where one of the forest giants had fallen to expose a hole towards the blue skies. At least the undergrowth had thinned out once they had ventured far enough from the edge that sunlight became scarce. Walking was slippery but not hard. At least for him, Ankh stomped on with little huffs of annoyance punctuating their silence.

"Sorry about this." Eiji scratched his neck, veering down an animal path that he hoped was leading towards the river.

"You should be." Ankh was half a step behind him, close, but far enough for Eiji to want to turn around all the time to make sure he was really there.

"Do you regret not being a floating hand right now? That might have made for an easier walk."

"Idiot." Ankh slapped the back of Eiji’s head. "In what world is floating easy? Why did you think I borrowed the detective’s body? That floating thing was giving me a headache."

"I was meaning to ask about that…" The sound of the river could be heard in a distance, and Eiji slowed down a little as the ground started sloping downwards. "You… this is your complete body now? Or are you going to fade again?"

"Who knows. It feels stable enough for now." Ankh bashed aside a branch as if it had insulted him, now that they were nearing open ground, the undergrowth turned heavy once more.

"I see." Eiji swallowed hard. He supposed he should have known that he’d have no guarantees, but still, the knowledge that this might not be permanent made his stomach twist.

"So, who were those idiots with guns back there?" The question broke through Eiji’s worries before they had started festering.

"Ah, yes, they… It’s a long story." Eiji tried to lengthen his stride, but they had reached the river now, and he could not escape this story by walking faster. Instead he paused and turned, looking at Ankh for the first time since they had started their trek through the jungle.

It was eerie. Ankh looked just like he remembered him, stood there picking leaves from his jacket with an annoyed look on his face. For the moment even the gloved hand that was his Greed heritage had faded, leaving him looking human, if rather incongruous in the jungle setting.

"Hmm?" There was that head-tilt again, and Eiji felt himself sinking down on one of the stones lining the shallow river.

"Let’s pause for a moment. It’s… complicated." He looked down at the water, leaning down to splash some in his face. It felt hot. Far too hot.

"It’s probably not." Ankh made his way down to the river as well, inhumanly sure-footed on the slippery rocks in those boots. "You did something stupid again, didn’t you?"

"Kind of." Eiji kept watching the Greed, the way he stretched his arms in the sunlight as if they were wings. "You said you were aware… at least for some parts of my journey. You should know what I am talking about."

"I know a lot of things you aren’t telling me." The smile was a dagger that Ankh wielded rarely but with skill. "That doesn’t mean you get to keep quiet."

"When you were… gone." Eiji swallowed hard, his hand seeking out the Taka medallion in his pocket. "I went back. To the village…" he sighed and shook his head. "I wanted to fix things. Make things better. I thought that now that I had the power, I could save them. Save everybody. Stop the war. Make peace. Make sure no more children would die. I thought I understood why I still had the driver, but…"

The pause grew longer, but Ankh didn’t say anything. He just hunched down on the rock, looking intently at Eiji until the silence grew too hard to maintain. The river washed over the rocks, not minding either of the men. Finally he sighed and said with uncommon tiredness. “You don’t understand a damn thing, Eiji

The words hit Eiji like a wave, the cold water dripping from his face and hair taking him back. Back to the beach. Back to the battle. Back to an Ankh screaming the same words, fists clenched and face bruised.

_"You don’t understand a damn thing, Eiji!"_

_"You’re the one who doesn’t understand." He remembered getting to his feet, his back to Ankh. Not looking. He remembered feeling so tired of this fight. Of trying to explain what it felt like, being filled by the power of those purple medals. Of having his fears and doubts stripped away, one at a time. Losing sight and taste and touch… worthwhile sacrifices for what he was getting in return?_

_Ankh didn’t seem to think so, screaming words like daggers at his back. “If you’re really a greed, stop acting like there’s nothing you want! It pisses me off!”_

_Nothing. He remembered hearing footsteps speeding up in the water and turning just in time to get a fist in his gut that sends him stumbling back into the water. Both of them on their knees now, too marked by words and blows to recover quickly. He remembered trying to catch his breath, trying to explain but it was easier to lash out._

_"You’re too greedy! You want life so much, but don’t understand how precious it is!?" He remembered feeling nothing when the punch hit Ankh’s face, even though it made the Greed stumble back and nearly fall over. Life. It was precious. Hina’s life. Shingo’s life. Everybody’s life. His own? He hadn’t even considered that back then._

_"What difference does it make?" Ankh might have laughed behind his wet fringe, and Eiji remembered feeling like he was missing half the argument. As if he was always one step behind, trying to interpret the words spat at him. "Try wanting something for a change… you’ll see what it’s like. Have you ever really wanted anything at all?"_

_The words he could deflect, the punch that followed them not so much. Eiji remembered feeling the pain break through the purple numbness, remembered his knees folding back, remembered falling. A different kind of falling. A short distance. Water that embraced him. A different kind of heat as Ankh threw himself over him to hold him down. Timed slowed a bit there. Ankh in his lap. Ankh’s hands tangled in his shirt, yanking him up, screaming at him._

_"Have you, Eiji?"_

_He remembered not knowing._   
_He remembered stuttering._   
_He remembered tears hidden by the ocean._   
_"I.. I wanted…"_   
_He remembered the dream he had every night._   
_"There was something I wanted once, but… I gave up on it."_   
_He remembered the words coming, and Ankh actually listening._   
_Not interrupting._   
_Not pushing back._   
_Just holding him up, listening to the sounds of him breaking all over again._   
_Like the waves._   
_"I tried to focus on what was in front of me…"_   
_He remembered wanting so badly not to remember feeling useless._   
_He remembered wanting it._   
_Trying to explain._   
_Trying to make Ankh see it, because he looked so confused._   
_"And then… I got it."_   
_He remembered wanting to explain better_   
_"The power to help people, no matter how far off they are!"_   
_He remembered wanting, wanting to share that._   
_Share how it made him feel._   
_"More and more…"_   
_More power. More reach. His hands weren’t empty anymore._   
_"You gave it to me."_   
_He remembered taking a deep breath because this was important._   
_Ankh was important. And he was not getting it._   
_"I never mentioned that, did I?"_   
_He remembered feeling a bit stupid._   
_That he never told._   
_That he never let on that he was using Ankh as much as the other way around._   
_That he wasn’t selfless._   
_That he wasn’t good._   
_That he was just as afraid and lost as everybody else but now at least he had a chance._   
_A chance to matter._   
_A chance to change things._   
_He remembered not being quite sure when Ankh’s grip had changed from holding him down to holding him up. Supporting him._   
_He remembered smiling. Finding the words,_   
_"Ankh… Thank you."_   
_Small words._   
_Just a start._   
_He remembered being pulled up._   
_Breath on his face._   
_Ankh leaning in…_

"Hey!" The pebble was thrown at Eiji’s head with the same unerring accuracy that Ankh threw medals.

"Ow!" Eiji rubbed his head in annoyance. "What was that for?"

"Don’t space out." An annoyed snort as Ankh jumped to another stone, a closer one. "I’m not a ghost anymore, if you want to talk to me you have to make an effort."

"Sorry." Eiji rose as well, looking out over the river, trying to judge the best way to cross it. "I was just thinking about how right you were."

"Better late than never I suppose."

"I mean, power… I thought that was what I wanted. I really did. But then, when I actually could use it… it was… well, it was glorious at first." Eiji stretched a little, shadowing his eyes against the sun. Southwest. The river ran southwest. They could follow it for a while. "Soldiers.Tanks. Even jets… they were no match for me. I could do anything!"

"That’s why the OOO driver was created after all." Ankh shrugged, as if this was not news for him. As if he had seen it all. Maybe he had. Once upon a time.

"And people wanted it. Wanted me. Wanted to recruit me.With money. For good causes." Eiji sighed and rubbed his neck. "I had been down that road before. Power is no different than money, is it? I was making the same mistake I was making back then. When I thought that just throwing money at a problem could solve it, but all it did was create more conflict. And this time…"

"You were walking the path of the King. Big deal."

"It was a big deal," Eiji protested, wading over to Ankh, the shallow water surprisingly cold. "I never wanted to be a conqueror."

"And now he gets it," Ankh scoffed. He looked amused at Eiji’s rising frustration.

"Get what?" It was happening all over again, wasn’t it? An argument in water, and Eiji was playing catch-up.

"Desire. What it is all about." Ankh jumped down from his stone, meeting Eiji in the knee-deep water. The set of his chin was a challenge all of its own, but he followed up with words. "You never wanted power."

"I did," Eiji protested, holding his ground.

"Then why did those purple medals have such a hold over you?"

"Because they gave me…"

"Bullshit!" Ankh was close now, in his face, all huffed up like an angry bird. "You wanted power for the sake of others. Not yourself. No heart’s desire. You didn’t want anything, and you didn’t give a shit what happened to you in the process. You wanted the nothingness as much as Maki did!"

"That’s not…"

"Really? You were ready to die up there."

"So were you!" Eiji couldn’t hold back anymore, this time he was the one grabbing Ankh, clinging harder than he liked to admit. "You told me so yourself! But I’m not!" Shallow breaths. Struggling for control. Eiji blinked a few times to chase off the panic attack that was creeping in out of nowhere.

"You’re not what?" Ankh’s voice had grown soft as Eiji’s grew harsh.

"I’m not ready for you to be gone. Even if you’re okay with dying." Where did the tears come from?

"I noticed that when my medallion cracked and didn’t turn to dust." Ankh placed his hands on Eiji’s shoulders a bit awkwardly, before looking back towards the jungle with narrow eyes.

"What?" Eiji looked as well, but there was nothing more than the green and Ankh’s arms around him. Almost an embrace.

"I’m just waiting for someone to take a shot at us."

"What?" Eiji wasn’t sure he was managing to process Ankh’s leap of logic. "Did you hear something?"

"No. But it’s happened before when you were about to kiss me."

"What?!!"

"Maki on the beach, then your military friends…" Ankh keep a cautious eye on the forest.

"No, I mean…" Eiji swallowed hard and the protest died in his mouth. It hit too close.

"Hmm?" Ankh looked back, the hint of a teasing smirk on his face. "What  **do** you mean, Eiji?”

"I…" His heart beat too fast. His mouth was dry. Probably tasted bad too. He was standing in a river and his toes were going numb, and Ankh had a point, people might have been following them and someone would probably take another shot at them, and… "…you’re right."

"I usually am." And too smug about it. But Eiji didn’t say that, instead he took a deep breath and leaned closer.

"Ankh, I… I would really like to kiss you."

And this time there were no interruptions.

 


	3. Eiji's Desire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for the end of the series. NSFW.

A meal.  
The cheapest one.  
Bought with change and a smile.  
Smiles had always opened doors for Eiji.

They had reached the village just after dusk, tired and wet and strangely quiet. Eiji had found himself at a loss for words, lips still tingling. Something had changed. Or had anything changed? Really? Hadn’t things just settled back into their proper shape? The way things always were supposed to have been? Like the medallion he kept fingering in his pocket… whole, not half.

"Merci beaucoup." Eiji smiled at the old woman who ran the restaurant, trying to ignore the way Ankh dug into the contents of his bowl. The absence had not improved the Greed’s table manners any. "I am sorry for my friend’s manners," he continued in heavily accented french.

"Oh never mind that." The old woman was beaming at Eiji. "American, is he?"

"Ahhh, well, he is hungry anyway." Eiji laughed a bit nervously, glad that Ankh didn’t understand french . "We missed our tour bus and tried to take a shortcut back. It feels like we’ve been walking for hours."

"You poor boys." Her smile softened. "If you want to, you can stay here for the night. I’ve got a room right up top. Sometimes I rent it out to backpackers."

"That is very kind of you, but…" Eiji looked at what remained of his pile of coins. Perhaps enough for a soft drink or ice cream. If they had those here.

"Oh shush, you two look exhausted. And hungry," she added after another look at Ankh that had already finished his food and was holding out the bowl for more with an expectant look on his face.

"Ankh!" Eiji, made a face, and got one back in return. One that made his heart do a little extra beat.

"Well, I am glad he likes it." The old woman retrieved the bowl. "I will bring some more, and then if you want to you can help me out a bit back in the kitchen and then I can show you where the room is. Would that be alright?"

"It would be perfect, thank you." Eiji bowed, which was harder than he liked, still seated at the table as he was. "I’m very sorry to impose…"

"Shush. You eat now too, before it gets cold. We can talk later." She went back to refill Ankh’s bowl, leaving the two alone with their awkward silence once more.

…

It was pitch black outside when Eiji finally made his way upstairs. He had spent the evening helping the old lady out with whatever chores she had that needed doing. It wasn’t just for gratitude either, it had given him an excuse to be alone and think. Or, well, alone if one meant absence from Ankh, because as predicted the Greed was nowhere to be found when it was time for work. Good. Or, well, not so good. He had to keep fingering the medallion in his pocket to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, even though technically he knew this was not the medal that had been broken. That one now resided inside Ankh, the core of his being once more. But still, the broken one was no longer there, and that was a reminder as good as any.

A reminder that everything had changed.

When he closed his eyes be could still feel the kiss. Awkward at first, then heated, almost angry. Impatient. It wasn’t as if they had just melted into each other’s arms and everything turned perfect. Eiji wasn’t sure that he would have trusted something like that even if it had happened. He didn’t want perfect. He wanted Ankh. He wanted the awkward fit, the jagged edges, the challenge implicit in everything from a touch to a look. Unapologetic when Eiji was nothing but apologies.

"That took it’s sweet time." Ankh was lounging in the room, peering through the open window, his back to the door. It wasn’t a large space, just like the old woman had said it was a small room she rented out now and again. Two narrow beds, western style. A window that could be opened, covered by thick mosquito netting that Ankh had flung aside, heedless of the consequences.

"At least pull the curtains, will you?" Eiji closed the door behind them. The restaurant was now empty and quiet, and the village was too small for street lamps. Further down the single road, a bar still blared distant music to the overcast skies. "I don’t want to be eaten alive."

"Really?" Ankh’s snort was more of a laugh. "You were prepared to sleep in the forest. Good job on sweet-talking grandma into letting us stay."

"We would have had a fire in the forest. Smoke helps with mosquitoes." Eiji walked up to the window, reaching past Ankh to pull it closed. Brushing against the other man made his breath hiccup, but he steeled himself and pulled back once more. "So what were you doing? You could have helped out, you know."

"Don’t be ridiculous." Ankh leaned close, close enough that Eiji could feel his breath hit him every time the Greed spit out another word. "I was making sure this place was safe, that none of your friends with guns had beaten us here."

"Oh." Eiji felt his cheeks flush a little, not only because of the closeness. "I didn’t…"

"Didn’t think? Nothing new there." Ankh shrugged and leaned in a little closer, his lips brushing Eiji’s.

"Ankh, I…" He had to swallow hard to keep his heart down his throat, lips brushing together as he spoke. "I mean I want this, want you, but…"

"But?" Ankh’s hand had fisted itself in Eiji’s shirt, pulled the loose fabric tight.

"I haven’t… done this before." Eiji wouldn’t have thought the words would be so hard to push out, but they were. He refused to blush though, and even met Ankh’s eyes when the Greed let go of him and took a step back with a look of cautious confusion on his face.

"Really? What about your amusement park friend? What about the greenhouse?" Feathers ruffled, there were an undertone of suppressed jealousy there, or maybe it was only colored by Eiji’s memories.

"We kissed, nothing more. I mean, I…" This was important, even if it was hard to talk about. "I always… I felt like I had more important things to do than being together with someone. I mean I was in a position to actually help people, so…"

"…so you were an idiot even back then." Ankh nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. His gloved hand had re-materialised as it always did when emotions got heated. "Good to know."

"That’s not my point." Eiji threw his hands out in frustration. "My point is that I really have no idea what I am doing."

"What you want to, I hope?" Ankh tilted his head, frowning faintly. But his arms uncrossed and he stepped closer once more.

"Yes, well, I don’t have much practice with doing what I want either." Eiji drew a deep breath and took Ankh’s hand in his, the gloved one. He had always been surprised at how warm it was. Leathery and soft, covered by slick plates of armour that felt like glass under his fingertips. "But I’m willing to learn."

"Huh." Ankh looked down for a moment, at his hand held by both of Eiji’s. "Well, it can’t be that hard. The detective used to do it all the time."

"What?" Eiji felt his eyes go wide. "Shingo? I mean… how, did you? When you were using hi… I mean using his body?" There was no way that sentence could be spoken without blushing now that his mind had gone there,

"Idiot." Ankh had pulled back his hand and pointed at his temple. "His memories. I could access them if I tried, remember?"

"Yes." He let out a sigh of relief before realizing what that meant. "You accessed his memories about things like that? Why?"

Ankh just looked at him, head tilted until finally Eiji caught on to what he was implying. The reason to go into detailed studies exactly how a human body worked. How human desire worked.

"Ankh… you can’t just…" The sigh was deep, outrage hiding the nervousness. "I mean…"

"I can’t do it anymore." The hand flicked in annoyance. "Only got my own memories now. And we Greed are not very used to our senses being this fine-tuned."

"Ankh…" Eiji repeated the name and stepped closer, for the first time realizing that yes, he felt like he was stumbling blindly through the night, but at least he was not alone in that. At least he was used to touch, used to taste and sight. Ankh had experienced the world through the dull filter that was his Greed form for most of his existence, it was only when he had possessed a human he had learned that there was another way to feel the world. Another way to experience it. It looked like it had stuck with him through the resurrection.

"What?" Ankh held his ground, the chin raised in challenge.

"It will be okay." Eiji put as much heart into the words as he could. "It really will. I mean, it’s not any more complicated than using the OOO’s driver, and I learned that."

"Eventually," Ankh said with the look of a man that really hated to admit it. "It took you long enough."

"Well, are you willing to let me try?"

A deep breath, a thoughtful pause, and then a final nod.

…

It didn’t use to be this hard to undress.  
Eiji wasn’t shy, you couldn’t be when travelling the world like he did. He had stripped in front of strangers more than once, had in fact met Ankh, or, well, Shingo, the first time when he was wearing nothing but his underwear. But what was easy with strangers was harder now, in part because Ankh didn’t want to keep his hands off him. Small kisses. Little bites. An annoyed huff when Eiji had to push him back to get his shirt off. And, well, the other part that was harder now was the fact that he was hard, something he was terribly conscious off once his pants dropped to the floor. At least his straining underwear only got an amused snort from the Greed before he went back to kissing him. Still fully dressed.

"Ankh…" Eiji mumbled the words, lips feeling bruised because Ankh wasn’t exactly gentle in anything he did. "Stop fidgeting." He had managed to tease the shirt from far too tight pants, but that was all.

"It tickles." The complaining was so filled with annoyance that the moment broke, and Eiji had to choke back half a giggle.

"Then squirm less. I just want to take your clothes off." How many times had he dreamt about that over the year they were together? How many times had he ended up feeling guilty and ashamed, because that was Hina’s brother he was trying to pretend he was not fantasizing about?

"Why didn’t you say so." Ankh pulled back a few inches, eyes narrowing in concentration. There was a brief gust of wind, not as strong as when he materialized his wings, but once Eiji had opened his eyes again, the Greed was standing in front of him, entirely nude.

"Oh." Eiji swallowed hard. He hadn’t expected this moment to come this quickly, had planned for it to be slower, more romantic maybe. Not like this, but… "Why didn’t you tell me?" He hadn’t realized that Ankh’s clothes must have been part of his form as much as his wings or the armored glove. Formed from cell medals the same way that the flesh of the Greed was. For him to try to take them off… "It must have felt like I was pulling at your hair. Or feathers." Ankh needed proper clothes. He made sure to remember that. Clothes that could be taken off properly next time. Next time… oh how he hoped he wouldn’t mess up so there would actually be a next time. Keeping his eyes above the navel he burst out "I’m sorry about that." Crap. He shouldn’t have bowed. Or looked. The blush came unbidden.

"Mmm?" Ankh looked down on Eiji with a faint smirk. "By all means…"

"Well…" Eiji took a deep breath and kept from jerking back. This was… he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that this was as awkward as anything ever was with the Greed. But at the same time… this was Ankh naked in front of him. Completely naked. Hard.

Eiji swallowed hard as he felt his knees give out, sinking to the floor. His hands didn’t shake when he reached out and ran them over Ankh’s hips, following the sharp angles where they jutted out. Slim legs, not that he was surprised, those skinny jeans hadn’t really given any indication of anything else. Not that he had looked. Except he totally had. And now he could finally touch. It felt… like more of a relief than he had expected. Was he nervous? Of course he was. But this wasn’t terrifying in the same way as he had feared. Maybe because this was Ankh. Maybe because he was fairly certain that if he did something wrong, the Greed would tell him. Loudly. And if he screwed up… how could he do worse than he already had? And all those mistakes had caused them to end up here, in a strange room in a stranger’s house. Naked.

It wasn’t even that hard to open his mouth and swallow deep. Eyes closed and hands holding those narrow hips secure so Ankh couldn’t thrust too hard. He hadn’t planned to do this, he wasn’t even sure what he had planned. A hand maybe, that he knew how to do, at least that bit was easier with men. He’d done it on himself often enough. But things had spiraled out of control, and he was surprisingly okay with that. At least this way he got to hear Ankh suck in a breath that was almost a gasp, and feel a shiver that was so deep that he suspected only willpower held the Greed upright.

"Eiji…" Ankh’s voice was hoarse, and filled with equal parts wonder and concern. "Is this… really what it’s supposed to feel like?"

Eiji pulled back and licked his lips. It took a moment before he could collect himself, especially with the tip of Ankh’s cock constantly brushing his lips, begging to be let back in. “I… honestly wouldn’t know. Is it good?”

That gave the Greed a moment’s pause, as if he was loath to admit something that was written all over his face anyway. Eiji would have laughed if he hadn’t decided to take pity on the now quite desperate Ankh and take him back in his mouth, something that made any coherent answer impossible. Not that it was easy to keep working either, he kept wanting to smile because it was just so… oh he hadn’t even known what to expect. Maybe he had been overthinking everything. He had seen Ankh and the way he devoured his ice cream, but he hadn’t made the connection to how dull the Greed’s senses usually were. Not until he had experienced it himself, that slow loss of sight and taste and… touch. Ankh had never felt anything like this before. That made Eiji determined to make sure he would not forget it. Even if it was rather quick…

Eiji managed to not quite choke as he swallowed.

"This…" Ankh didn’t manage to finish the sentence as he stumbled back and sat down on the bed, looking like he hadn’t breathed for the last few minutes. "We are doing this again." It was an order delivered with such passion that Eiji couldn’t hold back the laugh any longer.

"Ankh…" He really tried to collect himself, but the sight of the Greed looking as lost and ruffled as he did just made things worse.

"What?" It was an annoyed snap, Ankh glaring daggers as if he suspected that Eiji was making fun of him.

"Nothing." Eiji made his way over to the bed, hooking his thumbs into his underwear as he went. "It just takes a bit of time for people to recover. Normally."

"Oh." Ankh looked down with a glare, as if he could change things with pure willpower, which he might have been able to if Eiji hadn’t sat down next to him and pulled him in for a kiss.

"I’m glad you liked it, I…" Eiji sucked in a breath as Ankh slid his hand down, running it over the bulge in his underwear.

"You have an unhealthy obsession with those things." The words were delivered with a serious frown, and Eiji didn’t protest as Ankh divested him of his last garment.

Naked. Naked together. On a bed. He shouldn’t fumble, but somehow this was a bit harder. He had always had an easier time giving than receiving, focusing on someone else was how he stopped hesitating after all. Not that any hesitation would have stopped Ankh. It was a relief really, to just lay back and realize that Ankh was right. This felt… amazing. Or, well, he honestly thought that anything would have felt amazing as long as he could watch Ankh doing it, because the focus with which the Greed did things was fascinating. Especially if said thing was playing with his cock.

"Ankh…" Eiji tried to look away, but it was impossible. He wanted to see those thin lips curl around him the way he had guiltily pictured every time Ankh bit down on another ice cream. He wanted to see long, thin fingers curl around his shaft, working it, Ankh’s eyes meeting his own, that faint smirk as he pulled back, hand still working, getting far too close… "Ankh!"

"What?" Ankh didn’t pause, just kept working him, lips a breath from the head of his cock, close enough that his breath chilled the wet surface.

"You should stop now. Really." Eiji couldn’t look away, he knew he should but… "I can’t… seriously, you should pull back, or something. I’m serious!"

But Ankh didn’t move, and he didn’t stop, he just kept smirking and Eiji couldn’t hold it. Not now. It had been too many months. Too much lost time. Even if it meant that he hit Ankh right in the face. And in the hair. That carefully coiffured hair.

"What the…" The Greed’s eyes had gone wide, and he dragged his fingertips along his now wet cheek, looking annoyed while Eiji was struggling to get his breath back.

"I’m sorry…" The words were honest even if he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. "I didn’t mean to…"

"Hmh." Ankh looked at his sticky fingers, then sucked them off, one by one. The look on his face was one of utter focus, as if he was deciding exactly how annoyed he was supposed to be at this development. "It’s fine," he said at last. "It has an interesting taste."

"I’m glad…" Eiji let out the breath he was holding as Ankh slid down next to him, limbs intertwining in a way that felt more natural than he had expected. He decided to tell Ankh about his hair later.

He was far too comfortable to dodge the inevitable blow that would result.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the three parts in this 'episode' has been written. Might write another episode if the urge strikes me and my deadline allows. These boys are just too fun to bounce off each other.


End file.
